The director of sport spoke to Radio Deejay ahead of tonight’s game with Lazio, which will mark Zanetti’s final appearance at San Siro.

“This will be the opportunity to salute him and we thank all the fans who will give the right tribute to this great player.

“Will Zanetti play? Certainly. Will we retire his jersey? I think so, but we’ll talk about it with Pupi and the President.”

Confidence is low after the 1-0 defeat to Milan, which left their Europa League qualification in doubt.

“We won’t hide, it was a bad performance and we just didn’t play in the derby. We had prepared that match in a very different way, then something happened to sap our intensity. A derby must be played to the death, always.

“I know what President Erick Thohir said to us and to Walter Mazzarri, so he is convinced of this project.”

Ausilio is in charge of transfer negotiations and was asked about a series of names who are up in the air.

“Icardi will stay, as will Mateo Kovacic. Samuel to Fiorentina? I don’t get the sensation he’s signed with anyone. Last year we reached an agreement for the renewal in just three minutes, so I won’t rule that out.”

A deal has already been struck to sign Nemanja Vidic on a free transfer after his contract with Manchester United expired.

“We are talking about a very strong player who will give a great contribution to the team.”

Finally, Ausilio was asked about reports Inter are tracking Napoli midfielder Behrami and confirmed there was truth to it.

“We could well like him, but we have to consider the Aurelio De Laurentiis variable. Napoli don’t tend to let go of these players easily.”